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John 'Derf' Backderf did not make an appearance in the new Jeffrey Dahmer series on Netflix but was instrumental in the retelling of the story.
John Backderf and the infamous serial killer were high school classmates at Revere High School in Ohio. Derf and Dahmer also attended Ohio State University after high school, although Dahmer was in attendance for only a few months.
Derf Backderf told the story of his friendship with the serial killer via his comics, which was first published as a 24-page book called My Friend Dahmer by Derf himself in 2002. He explained in an interview with The Independent in 2018 that though he was not close friends with Dahmer, he would occasionally hang out with his friend group. He continued:
“I was always kind of wary of Jeff, honestly.”
He went on to say that he was uncomfortable hanging out with Jeffery Dahmer alone. He said,
“I was OK with hanging out with him, if there was other people around. I was never going to be alone with him. And I’m pretty happy I had that instinct, because that could have well been me chopped up in the trunk of his car.”
Backderf's graphic novel about Jeffrey Dahmer was adapted into a movie in 2017
John 'Derf' Backderf was born on Halloween 1959, in Richfield, Ohio. He attended Revere High school and went on to earn a BA in journalism from Ohio State University. Derf always showed a keen interest in cartooning and journalism, so when the story of Jeffrey Dahmer being a serial killer broke out, he decided to dissect his mind through a series of comics.
Derf had first pitched a 100-page novel that was an accumulation of various comic book projects he started etching in 1994, shortly after Dahmer was killed in prison. In 2012, Derf's 24-page graphic novel was published as a full-length book by Abrams Books. The graphic novel and memoir was subsequently made into a film by Marc Meyers, starring Ross Lynch in the titular role, in 2017.
The film is told from the perspective of his friends, whereas the comic book examines the Jeffrey Dahmer himself. Alex Wolff of Jumanji fame played Derf in the 2017 film.
My Friend Dahmer was included in the Publisher's Weekly list of the top ten comic books of the year. The book also went on to receive the Revelation Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France in 2014.
The author talks about his personal experience with Jeffrey Dahmer and highlights the parts that, in retrospect, add to the bizarre behavior he exhibited. Derf explained his friendship with the Milwaukee cannibal. They were not good friends but occasionally hung out in the same groups. But Derf was always uncomfortable around him. He told The Independent:
"There was a darkness around him that was really kind of repellant."
He continued to say that his friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer was a result of geography rather than choice. They lived in a rural town with not much access to other areas, which made it difficult to come across new friendships.
Derf wondered if the adults in Jeffrey Dahmer's life had paid a little more attention, then the crimes could have been prevented. He believes that Dahmer did not have to end up a monster. He said,
“They didn’t care. They just pushed him along and figured, ‘Well, next year he’ll be somebody else’s problem.’ And of course he was somebody else’s problem.”
Dahmer's parents were involved in a bad divorce and his mother Joyce was a patient with many psychological ailments.
Though that was the case, Backderf does not like to blame Joyce for the way her son turned out. Though she did struggle with mental illness, he mentioned meeting Joyce on a few occasions and called her "pleasant." Her condition was only exaggerated and she was demonized as the cause for Jeff, mostly by her ex-husband, Lionel.
John Backderf, however, added:
“Once Dahmer kills, however, and I can’t stress this enough, my sympathy for him ends. He could have put a gun to his head.”
Derf's story details the life of Jeffrey Dahmer, a teenager abandoned by both his family and friends, who went on to commit some of the most horrific crimes against humans in U.S. history - killing, assaulting, and dismembering seventeen boys and men.
As of 2022, John Backderf has over 50 awards following the release of five more graphic novels. The Derf collection, which comprises 34 years of his original art, was established in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University. Derf won an Eisner Award and a Ringo Award for Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio in 2021.
